POL:MOS
The Manual of Style (MOS) is the style manual for all articles on Wiki101. It regulates the style and formatting of articles, covering rules specific to the Spiral Games Universe and Wiki101. The Manual of Style does not cover basic rules of the English language. Refer to other sources for that information, should you need it.
For rules regarding the layout of articles on Wiki101, see the Layout Guide.
Perspective
In-universe
The Spiral is an in-universe subject.
If something is in-universe (IU) or described as such, then it belongs to the Spiral Games Universe and not the real world. For example, a character is in-universe, but the actor who voices the character is out-of-universe.
Articles about in-universe topics such as characters, locations, or species, should always be written from an in-universe perspective. Think of articles on the wiki as being written by a historian within the Spiral Games Universe, and not someone from the real world (such as yourself) writing about the subject. For this reason, the main body of in-universe articles should not mention real-world things such as Wizard101 and Pirate101 or gameplay-specific things such as the level required to recruit a certain companion in Pirate101. The exception to this is the "Trivia" section, where (sufficiently relevant) real-world facts and trivia about and relative to the subject can be listed.
Tense
All in-universe articles should be written in present tense by default. However, there may be some examples in which past tense is preferable, such as when a character whose status is unknown was exclusively detailed in a historical account. Obviously, if a character was once living or a location once existed, then we use past tense.
Out-of-universe
J. Todd Coleman is an out-of-universe subject.
Something that is out-of-universe (OOU) is the perspective opposite of in-universe, i.e. something that is written from a real-world point of view. In contrast to in-universe articles, which are written from an in-universe point of view, articles about video games, biographies, KingsIsle employees, or other real-world Spiral Games Universe-related subjects should be written from an out-of-universe perspective.
Neutrality
All articles must be written from a neutral point of view (NPOV), representing views and documenting events fairly and without any personal bias. This includes both in-universe and out-of-universe articles. Basically, the gist of this policy is that where there are or have been conflicting views, these views should be presented in a fair way but not asserted. All significant points of view are presented, not just the one that is most popular. There should never be a "correct" view—readers should be left to form their own opinions.
It should be noted that the neutral point of view is, in and of itself, a view. It is not the absence of viewpoints at all. It is just a point of view that is neutral—it is neither sympathetic or in opposition to the subject.
Grammar
Though the readers and editors on the wiki may speak many varieties of English, we mandate standard American English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. This is the variety of English used by the sources created by KingsIsle Entertainment.
Emphasis
Subject name
- The name of the article should be bolded in its first usage in the introduction, as should any alternate formal names and nicknames in the introduction.
- Articles with conjectural titles may, but do not need to, bold the complete article title.
- Articles with obviously conjectural titles (such as those that include "Unidentified" in the title) should not bold the complete article title.
Linking
General rules
- A subject should be linked once upon its first mention in:
- The article infobox
- The article introduction
- The article body
- A table in the article body
- Individual references
- Do NOT include links in:
- The bolded part(s) in an introduction
- Section headings
- Avoid using redirect links (example: [[Her Majesty's Navy|Royal Navy]] instead of [[Royal Navy]]).
- In-universe articles should not link to real-world Wikipedia articles.
Formatting
- Because the # character is used by the software to link to HTML anchors (i.e. section headings), it cannot be used in article titles or in links. To account for this, pipelinks can be used: [[The Modern Adventures of Stallion Quartermane 1|''The Modern Adventures of Stallion Quartermane'' #1]].